Snowmaggedon
Tiffany T.J. Craig
Copyright 2011 Tiffany T.J. Craig
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There are few things as innocent as a first snowfall. The way the flakes seem to dance about the sky to an unheard symphony, before floating down to form a protective blanket over the Earth. Almost every human being on the face of this planet has, at one time in their life, stopped to admire a snow storm, or watch as children made use of a freshly covered hillside.
But, to all this innocence there is a dark side, one that most people couldn’t possibly fathom. But, I know it’s there, for I’ve seen it with my own two eyes.
It happened nearly twenty years ago, when I, even at the rough age of fifty-four, was still strong enough to defend the world from that which lurked beneath the snow…
Saturday
December 17, 2011
I’m not sure what woke me first that morning, the ringing of my telephone, or the shrill screaming of my neighbor as he beat loudly on my bedroom window. Although, now that I think about it, I’m sure it was the latter.
“Winston! Winston, wake up! Wake up!” he yelled.
“What do you want, Clive?” If my furious tone had any affect on him, he didn’t show it.
“Winston! Oh, thank God! I need your help!”
“Have you killed someone? Because, if this isn’t as serious as a murder, I’m not getting out of this bed!” I threatened, looking at the window.
“This is good, I swear! It may even be the find of the century!” he promised.
I groaned inwardly. This wasn’t the first time my amateur archaeologist neighbor had boasted the ‘find of the century’, only to have it turn into the centuries’ biggest flop.
“Come on, buddy! If it’s nothing this time, I…I’ll never bother you again!”
My ears perked up instantly. “Never?” I asked, intrigued by the thought.
“Never!” Clive reiterated.
This was too good of an opportunity to pass up. “Fine, but I want that in writing!”
He nodded eagerly. “Whatever you say, man! I’ll see you at the diner!”, and with a final nod he was off, taking my peaceful Saturday with him.
The 7-7 Diner
It wasn’t until I had drained my third cup of coffee that my brain finally began to function, and the thought that had been niggling at the back of my head came into sharp focus. It was the middle of winter! One of the worst we’d had in years. So, how had Clive, who was notorious for digging only in his backyard, found anything under all this snow? I didn’t have time to wonder for long however, as the man in question appeared suddenly before me.
“What is that?” I asked, gesturing towards the large cooler he had set on the tabletop.
“This is the mother lode!” he cried excitedly.
I rolled my eyes, but still watched as he pulled off the lid and reached inside. What he pulled out made me wish I had stayed in bed. “A snowball? You drug me out of my house and into this blizzard for a snowball?”
“It’s not a snowball, Winston. Look at it closely!” he begged, placing the thing in my unwilling hand. “Notice how heavy it is, and how smooth. It even…”
I was scarcely listening to him now. I was so mesmerized by this…object.
“Winston!”
“Huh? What?” I asked, coming out of my daze.
“I said, what do you think? Have I found some previously undiscovered form of fossilized creature?”
“I have no…oh my God!” I cried.
“What?!”
“It moved!” I said, balancing the thing on an empty coffee cup.
“You mean that thing is alive?” Clive asked. “I wonder if the rest of them are.”
“Rest of them?” I asked incredulously, “There’s more of these?”
He nodded. “Oh, yeah…there’s definitely more of them.”
“How many?” I asked, dreading the answer.
“Hundreds of them. They’re all over the place, in every snow bank and…”
“You need more coffee, Winston? It’s fresh.” A voice said.
I glanced up at our waitress and nodded. “Thanks, Tisa.”
Just as she started pouring the coffee, a loud crash came from the kitchen and she jumped, spilling hot coffee all over the table and the ‘egg’. A strangely strangled cry seemed to come from it as it careened over the edge of the table and fell to the floor. We looked at each other for several seconds before looking down.
The ‘egg’ had shattered into several pieces, revealing a small, white snowman shape with flipper-like hands and legs. The creature was clearly dead.
“What in the world is that?” Tisa asked, taking a step backwards.
I shook my head slowly. “I don’t know, but I think we’d better get it over to Dr. Pierce at the university. Do you have any more of these eggs with you, Clive?”
“Yeah, there’s four more in the cooler. Do you think I’ve discovered some new type of animal?” he asked, his eyes lighting up at the possibility.
“I don’t know what you’ve found, Clive, but you’ve definitely found something.
Hayden’s Point University
After a brief phone call to Dr. Pierce explaining our situation, we were instructed to rush the eggs and the creature to the university for an in depth examination. The minute we arrived, we were rushed into a laboratory, where the doctor was waiting for us.
“So, what do you think they are, Dr. Pierce?” Clive asked.
He sat down the egg he had been inspecting. “I have no idea. Why don’t you leave them with me tonight… let me take a really good look at them… do some tests.” He suggested.
“Fine by me, doc. We’ll be back tomorrow.” I said agreeably.
He nodded absentmindedly, too absorbed in his work to notice that we were gone.
Sunday
December 18, 2011
Hayden’s Point University
Clive and I met at the university early that morning, and quickly made our way to Dr. Pierce’s office. As soon as we arrived, we realized something was wrong. The door to the laboratory was wide open, the radio was blaring, and every piece of scientific equipment was running at high speed.
“Dr. Pierce, are you in here?” I called apprehensively.
We walked in slowly, carefully avoiding the many puddles of water spread across the floor of the lab.
“Dr. Pierce?” I called again.
Clive switched off the radio, and came to stand beside me. “I guess he isn’t…”
“…help me…” a voice called faintly.
“Dr. Pierce? Caden, is that you?” I yelled.
“…help…me…”
We followed the voice to the supply room, and yanked open the door. We were both horrified to see Dr. Pierce’s mangled body come tumbling out. He was covered in blood, and both his legs were missing. He was barely clinging to life.
“Caden! What happened?” I cried. “Clive, call an ambulance, now!”
“Winston…the creatures…”
I leaned down closer, in order to hear him better. “What about them, Caden?”
“…they like…the…noise…” he managed to say, before he collapsed in my arms, his eyes fluttering shut. In that instant, I knew he was gone.
“What did he mean by that?” Clive asked.
Before I could answer, we heard the distinct sounds of sirens blaring, people screaming, tires squealing and guns firing.
“What the hell?” Clive cried, rushing for the door.
After lying my friends’ head gently on the floor, I followed Clive out the door, where I came face to face with the most horrendous sight ever gazed upon by man. Everywhere we looked there were bodies, and right before us were the creatures. There were four large ones, each
about seven feet tall, rock hard and a distinctive slate blue color. All around their feet little ones, newly hatched, ran about nibbling on the fallen bodies.
Clive looked at me in horror. “What…where…?”
“Let’s get out of here” I yelled, grabbing him and pulling him towards my jeep.
“Where are we going?”
“To the safest place in town.”
The 7-7 Diner
“The diner? What in the world makes you think we’ll be safe here?”
I shook my head in exasperation. “The windows are bulletproof and tinted, they’ve got food, water, a police scanner and a cb radio.”
“When did this place become Fort Knox?”
“Old man Rayner was always a survivalist nut. After he died, the new owners kept up the provisions, just in case.”
“Lucky for us, I’d say.” Clive commented.
“Me, too. I’m just glad I remembered it.” I replied, pulling open the door. I’m not sure what I expected to find, but I know it wasn’t the barrel of a gun pointed at my nose.
“Freeze! One more step, and I blow your head off!” a voice yelled.
“Tisa, it’s just us!” I cried, throwing my hands in the air.
She lowered the barrel immediately. “Oh, Winston! Clive! Thank God! What is going on out there?”
“You remember that thing we had in here yesterday? Turns out it really was an egg. Apparently, there